Everyone was making excellent progress in setting up for the party. Of course, some of the kids had to take supplies from Mikey, because the youngest turtle kept on playing with said supplies.
"Check it out, dudes!" Mikey exclaimed giddily while waving a blue streamer around. "Streamers! Booyakasha!" He spun around while still spinning the streamer. "Wanna see me do a trick?"
"No!" Raph said firmly and took the streamer from Mikey and gave it to Leo. "We need these to decorate for Ars' party."
"Hey, what do we have here?" Mikey asked and went up to a tank. He reached out to turn it on, until Donnie stopped him. "Donnie! What gives?"
"This tank is full of helium, Mikey," Donnie replied. "It makes balloons float."
Mikey gulped and asked, "Is that stuff poisonous? It sounds poisonous."
"No," said Donnie. "All it does, if you inhale it, is make your voice really high temporarily."
"Sweet!" Mikey said with a grin and made a grab for the knob of the tank. "Let me try! I wanna know what I sound like with my voice higher!"
Leo, after putting up the streamers, rushed over to Mikey. "Mikey, stop that!" He grabbed a pouting Mikey's arm and pulled him away from the helium. "We need to focus. This is Ars' birthday party, and we need to make sure it's good."
"Lighten up, dudes," Mikey said to his brothers. "We've got a lot of this stuff." He went back to digging through the supplies and found another box. "What are these?"
"Oh, those are party poppers," Alfreed replied. "They make a lot of noise, which is why they're ideal for when we shout 'Surprise'."
"Cool!" Mikey exclaimed and showed the party popper to April, who was getting some streamers out of the box. The popper went off right near her ear, causing her to scream in pain. This got everyone's attention. The group rushed over to her side.
Donnie glared at Mikey and asked, "What's wrong with you?!" He shifted his attention back to his crush and started to comfort her.
"Michelangelo!" Splinter said and gave Mikey a stern look. "I will not have you setting off explosives in your friend's ear!"
"I didn't mean to!" a panicked Mikey said. "I'm sorry!"
"This is why we don't want you messing with the supplies!" Leo said.
"Are you okay, April?" Donnie asked gently.
"What?" April asked loudly.
"I asked if your were okay," said Donnie.
"Donnie, are you playing a joke on me?" April asked. "Because moving your lips and not making a sound isn't funny. I'd expect something like that from Hermes."
"Hey!" an insulted Hermes said.
"What are you talking about?" Donnie asked. "Can't you hear me?"
"There you go again, Donnie!" said April.
"Is she deaf or something?" Raph asked Leo and Splinter.
"Only one way to find out," said Leo. He went into the kitchen area, came back with a frying pan and a spoon. He snuck up quietly behind April and started banging the frying pan. The noise was quite loud and made most of the others cringe. However, April was a different story. She didn't react at all. It was as if she couldn't hear the banging at all.
"Oh, no," Donnie muttered.
"Oh, geez!" said Mikey. He turned towards Donnie and said, "Donnie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to deafen your future bride for life!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Donnie exclaimed. "First of all we're not dating! So let's not even talk about engagements or weddings!"
"She doesn't even know he likes her," Leo muttered to Raph.
"How dense is she?" Raph muttered back. "I could see those signs all the way from Tokyo."
"And second of all," Donnie told Mikey. "I'm sure it's only temporary. I highly doubt she'll never hear again."
While all this was going on, Jericho, Soren, and Musa decided to try and prank April. Donnie had brought April over to the couch to sit her down and explain what had just happened to her. Jericho put a whoopee cushion on her seat, and he, Soren, and Musa quietly laughed as they heard the cushion go off after April sat down. Donnie, after hearing April's "fart", stood her up and found the whoopee cushion. He picked it up and scanned the room, looking for the culprit.
"Alright," Donnie called amidst the commotion. "Who did this?" He held the whoopee cushion high. "Who did this? Hermes, Xandes, did one of you pull this?" Seeing as he wasn't going to get an answer any time soon, he sighed in exasperation, threw the whoopee cushion aside, and sat back down with April.
Jericho, Soren, and Musa laughed some more, earning a stern look from Farangis. They immediately stopped laughing.
"You three should be ashamed of yourselves," Farangis told the boys. "Did you learn this from Hermes?"
"You know, just because I play some pranks doesn't mean I'm involved with every prank!" Hermes said. "The Idiot Trio did that on their own. My pranks are more imaginative."
"Yes, we're all aware, O Great God of Pranks," Shireen said with a mix of sarcasm and annoyance.
Meanwhile, back on the couch, Donnie was scribbling something on a notepad. April was impatiently waiting for Donnie to finish what he was doing. "Donnie, will you stop scribbling and tell me what's going on?"
When Donnie was finally done, he held up the notepad to April for her to read. It read, 'April, Mikey played with a party popper near your ear, and the noise temporarily damaged your hearing. It should come back in a couple hours. In the meantime, we may have to use notes to communicate.'
After reading April sighed and put the notepad down. "Well, this is perfect. I meet a friend of yours, we get along, I get invited to his birthday party, and now I'm deaf. All in the same day. And it's all thanks to Mikey. How can this get any worse?"
"I'm sorry," Donnie said, but then remembered April couldn't hear her. He then took the notepad and wrote down what he wanted to say.
April read the note, which read, 'I'm sorry, April, but it's like I said: It's only temporary. It'll wear off. I'm pretty sure you'll be okay in time for the party. And Mikey's really sorry about what he did, and would like to make it up to you.'
After everyone calmed down, Donnie and April went back over to the group. April went over to Mikey and said, "It's okay, Mikey. I know you didn't mean it. I accept your apology." Mikey smiled in thanks.
"Okay, now that everything's calmed down, how about we go back to decorating for the party?" Estelle asked. "I want it to be good."
"You hear her, guys," Layla said happily. "Come on, back to work." With that, she and everyone else got back to decorating.
After almost half an hour, everything was set up. Balloons were filled, streamers were up, and there was food on a table. This included a punch Elam made. All that was missing was the banner, which Leo tasked Donnie with putting up, since Donnie was the tallest. Hermes and Xandes, meanwhile, were setting up something of their own. Hermes had left a skateboard on the floor, where anybody could slip on it. He and Xandes snickered and gave each other a high five.
Alfreed came along and saw what they were doing. She shook her head and said, "Please tell me this isn't one of your ridiculous pranks."
"Ridiculous?" Xandes scoffed.
"Why, my dear Alfreed," Hermes said in a mock-offended tone. "I'll have you know my pranks are, in no way whatsoever, ridiculous. They're actually quite clever."
"Come on, guys," Alfreed groaned. "Seriously, can't you stop your pranks for just the party?"
Hermes and Xandes gasped in fake terror.
"Stop pranking?!" Hermes said. "Do you hear yourself? You want me, Hermes Zachary Baris, to stop pranking for one day?!"
"That's practically a death sentence!" Xandes exclaimed.
Alfreed rolled her eyes and asked, "Don't you guys think you're being a little overdramatic?"
"I don't know, Alfreed," Gieve said. "I think these two could actually die if they cease their pranks for one day."
"Buzz off, Gieve," Alfreed said in annoyance. She walked away from the teenage trio and helped set up the presents.
Raph walked by and saw the skateboard on the floor. He looked from the skateboard, then to Hermes and Xandes talking with Gieve. He went up to Alfreed and asked, "What kind of prank are these geniuses trying to pull?"
"No idea," Alfreed replied.
"And we'll never tell," Hermes and Xandes said with childish grins.
"Well, guess what?" Raph said. "It's not gonna happen, 'cause this is going back in the closet." He picked the skateboard up and walked away with it.
"Tough luck, Loki twins," Alfreed said and smirked, then walked away after finishing up with the presents.
Hermes and Xandes chuckled. Gieve tilted his head in confusion and asked, "What's that chuckling about?"
"Oh, nothing," Hermes lied. "Just somebody's gonna be in for a surprise." Gieve just shrugged and walked away. After Gieve was out of their line of vision, Hermes took out a container of floor wax.
"So, where did you spread that stuff?" Xandes asked.
"Oh, just along the path of the step ladder, leading towards the buffet table," Hermes replied. He and Xandes went to sit on the couch to watch the prank unfold.
"How's this, Leo?" Donnie called from the step ladder. He was holding the banner.
"Perfect," Leo said. "Just hook it up right there and come down."
"Okay," said Donnie. He hooked the banner and started climbing down. However, as soon as his foot touched the floor, he found it hard to stand, as the floor was unusually slippery. "Oh, Kami!" He slipped and fell on his face. "Ow! Son of a-What the shell?!" He tried to get back up, but had a tricky time maintaining his balance. "Guys, what's wrong with the floor?!"
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "The floor's fine."
"Then why am I slipping?!" Donnie asked. "Whoa!" He almost fell on his face again and grabbed onto the step ladder, catching himself from falling.
"Just get off that spot, Donnie!" Raph called.
"Easy for you to say," said Donnie. He tried to walk away, but slipped again, and slid towards the buffet table.
April had now regained her hearing and jumped at the sound of Donnie's screaming. "Look out!" she screamed when she saw where Donnie was headed.
Donnie slammed into the buffet table, spilling two bowls of chips and the punch bowl. He sat on the floor, the now empty punch bowl on his head, the contents of said bowl covering him.
"Donnie!" Mikey and Shireen exclaimed. They rushed over to him and helped him up.
"Holy cow!" Raph said and rushed over to Donnie as well. "Donnie, are you all right?!"
"What the heck happened?" Donnie asked dazedly.
"What the-?" Jericho asked after he, Soren, and Musa rushed over as well.
"What happened?" a shocked Elam asked after seeing Donnie still regaining his balance, covered in punch. "Are you okay, Donnie?"
"What in the name of-?!" Estelle exclaimed.
"What is going on in here?" Splinter asked loudly, causing everyone to stop panicking and turn towards him. "I was in a deep meditative trance, when-" He stopped when he saw three of his sons and their friends helping Donnie up. "What happened here?"
"Donnie slipped and slid right into the buffet table somehow," Leo explained.
Gieve felt the shiny surface near the ladder. "Hey, there's wax on the floor."
"Huh? Wax?" Layla asked. "Who would-?" She stopped when she heard laughing coming from the couch. She swiftly turned and saw that the laughter came from Hermes and Xandes. She glared at the duo. "Did you two do this?" Hermes and Xandes shrunk under her glare.
"Um...what do you want to hear?" Xandes asked uneasily.
"Did you two do this?!" Layla repeated.
"Uh...okay, we did," Hermes replied. He quickly continued, "But ya gotta admit, it's pretty funny seeing him covered in punch and chips! Ha-ha!"
"Then how come nobody else is laughing?" an angry Narsus asked.
"Yeah, that wasn't funny!" Leo agreed. "You could've seriously hurt Donnie!"
"You're lucky he's just dizzy, and a little bruised!" Farangis said.
"Not to mention messy," said Mikey.
"Hermes, Xandes, why did ya have to do that?" Shireen asked.
"Oh, come on, it was funny," Hermes said and laughed. He and Xandes stopped laughing when they saw the still unamused expressions of the other kids.
"Donnie didn't think so," said April. "Neither did the rest of us, for that matter."
"Come on, Donnie, let's get you cleaned up," said Leo. He helped Donnie towards the bathroom.
"You two!" Splinter said to Hermes and Xandes. "Kitchen, now!" The duo followed him to the kitchen area. "I just want the both of you to know how furious I am with your actions just now! It was bad enough when Michelangelo temporarily deafened April, but at least what he did was an accident, and he apologized. What you two did was on purpose! Worst of all, neither of you seems to care that Donatello could have turned out worse than he did! I think you deserve to be punished!"
Xandes gulped. "Punished...how?"
"You can't ban us from the party," Hermes said. "It's my cousin's party, and he'd be sad if I wasn't here."
"I think I've got an appropriate punishment," a voice from behind them said. Hermes, Xandes, and Splinter turned to see Raph leaning against the entry to the kitchen. Hermes and Xandes couldn't help but notice an evil grin on Raph's face.
"Very well then, Raphael," Splinter said and nodded in approval. "I will leave their punishment to you." He left the kitchen, leaving Hermes and Xandes alone with Raph.
Raph continued grinning and laughed evilly. "Oh, yeah, this'll be great."
Xandes gulped again and turned to his friend. "Hermes...I don't like the way he's laughing...or looking at us."
"Neither do I," Hermes said.
Meanwhile, Arslan and Daryun were still at the theater, watching Guardians of the Galaxy. Arslan, much to Daryun's pleasure, was having a great time; since entering the theater, the boy's mood had changed from sad to happy. Inside, Daryun still fumed about the idiotic thing Andragoras did to get himself arrested, causing him and Tahamine to miss their son's birthday.
'Stupid Andragoras,' Daryun thought as Arslan's jaw dropped after Star Lord found out Drax had called Ronan the Accuser to their location. The brunette looked at the screen and said to himself, "This guy's almost as dumb as Andy."
"Drax, you idiot!" Arslan whispered. He turned to Daryun and thanked him for taking him to see the movie.
"No problem, Ars," Daryun replied and smiled. He took his phone out of his jacket pocket when he felt it vibrate. He saw he had gotten a text from Farangis. It read: 'There's a slight problem here. Mind stalling Arslan a little longer, while we rectify the situation? I'll let you know when we're ready.'
Daryun texted back: 'Sure, no problem.' He put his phone back in his pocket, wondering what happened. 'Maybe Hermes and Xandes pulled another prank.' He then went back to enjoying the movie, trying to see what he could do to keep Arslan occupied until further notice.